Monday, 21 February 2011

Product Reviews 2011

Andy Chase Comments:Hello everyone, well with Blackpool over I thought I would let you know about some of the great products for sale at the convention. As usual I spent far to much money on a wide variety of things. Some of the things that I brought are; sleeve star by David Jay, which seems to be great with an excellent gimmick.

I got lots of Craig Petty stuff and I am really looking forward to having a play with his new coin set 'Night Shade'.

I got a great deal from Andi Gladwin from Vanishing Inc, I got the Master Pushiff DVD which is fantastic and I also got the 2 Troy Hooser books.

I spent a lot of money at illusioncraft, which sell some excellent flash products and a amazing product called smoke.

Peter Nardi at Alakazam had a few new products out including a good trick called 365.

World Magic Shop had some other great products including the new function 9 DVD, which sold out in the first day.

Axtel was there again this year with some fantastic puppets, both myself and Stuart would really love one of these, maybe next year (I think I better get saving).

I saw a really great product called Banded using rings by Garret Thomas. I think 90% of the people who watched the amazing Jay Sankey brought some of his DVDs including myself.

Craig Dickson (mr magnet) had some great products and all sold at a very good price. It was great to see Tango at Blackpool again the coins he make are fantastic, with a newish coin called TUC.

There were over 125 dealers at Blackpool this year and I have only talked about a few of the great dealers and products.

However for me if I had to choose one product as the best buy of the convention it would have to be Dave Bonsall's Ring Flight Revolution. This is the most practical and useable ring flight I have ever seen. There are many different ring flights out there but none of them compare to this one. I know there was some magicians that thought it was expensive, but trust me it is worth every penny. The way it has been made is superb and it is very durable as well, Dave also says it will last a lifetime. So if you perform or want to perform ring flight give him a ring and order one! www.ringflightrevolution.com Well that is it guys, what did you buy? What did you think was great? Please comment.

Andy Chase

Max Curd Reviews:iCandy by Alias Smith & Jones

Scoop:Wow a really nice trick were a card is chosen and signed then the magician takes another card and signs the back, then the two cards merge together with a very visual moment of magic.

Ring to purse:A great quick trick with a borrowed ring and a purse full of coins, the ring is in one hand and the purse in the other and suddenly the ring ends up in the purse and the coins are in the magician’s hands.

TN'T:A very commercial handling of torn and restored card but in the hands of the spectators with a little kicker at the end, a true worker.

No Sleep:A great little trick with 5 cards, a four of a kind in the magician's hands and a different cards in the spectators then they just changes places, very direct.

Eyefone 10:Great modern trick were apparently the new iPhone 10 is shown then a card is selected and signed and the iPhone 10 is used to help find the spectators cards, the iPhone 10 is turned over and on the back is the spectators card fused to the back, has many gags with it.

3C:A cool routine with 3 coins which are produced and disappear then are put on a wallet and jump back and forward from the magician's hands.

Kick Back Kings:I love this routine and already do it myself, what happens is a cards is selected and then the four kings are used to help find the card but two of the kings are put in the pocket but then jump back between the other two kings and now in the pocket is the chosen card.

Kick Back Kicker:A great follow on effect to Kick Back King were the chosen card jumps back and forth between the pocket and the kings and the kings end up in the pocket with the chosen card in the magician's hands.

No moves coins thru table:Great EASY coins through table which uses no moves, a great routine which won't take long to learn.

Vanishing Point:2 cards on the box, then a card is selected but attention is drawn back to the box where the two cards have vanished but they have now gone from the box and sandwich the chosen card in the middle of the deck.

1 Short of a Full Deck:Card is chosen then the back of it changes and in the wallet is another copy of the chosen card.

3 Some:Very cheeky trick with three people which all see a card each but basically they all see the same card, and then they tell the magician there cards and in his wallet is the card they all choose.

6 Card Dunbury:6 cards, one card is chosen from them, then the spectator has to lie and say that every card is not his and the magician has to read the spectators body language then he is down to the last card but it is wrong then it changes in a really cool way.

Pocket to Pocket to Pocket:Gary's great card to pocket routine, very well structured with a lot of magic moments in.

One Coin Routine:Great routine by Lee with one coin were it disappears, appears, jumps on the back of the spectators hands then changes into a jumbo coin, great routine.

Overall I think this DVD is great and the thing is Gary and Lee are both working pro's so everything on this DVD is commercial stuff that anyone can do. I would really recommend getting this DVD, it has a few real jems in it that i think you guys are going to like.

Max Curd

What Stu Bought:The Killer Observation Test – Paul GordonWe are lucky at The Sussex Magic Circle to have Paul as a member, he lives & breathes card magic & seems to have a new product every month. What I don’t understand is how they can all be good, it’s amazing. This observation test is no different, so visual, I can highly recommend.

Billboard – Swami 2.0 – Magic TaoThis is a nice prediction routine, is essence a photo of a billboard you took and uploaded to a flickr style site has your prediction written on it. This obviously needs to use a device which is connected to the web, unfortunately this won’t currently work with the iPhone, but when version 2.1 comes out this will be even better.

Bloon – Magic SmithIn this routine you take a balloon and place it on the table, you walk 10 foot away, then cause the balloon to pop with the power of thought. I bought this to use with a glass breaking routine, and it’s nicely made, one thing to note is it works via a timer and not under your control, however it will give you a signal before it does it’s thing.

Super Sharpie – Magic SmithThis is a modern day swami, it allows you to use a Sharpie (which we magician’s love) rather than a pencil. It does exactly as you’d expect & want.Night Shade Coin Set – Craig PettyThis is so nice & so well made. I can’t say too much about the construction, but there are some really clever aspects to this. This is one to get.

Love Cards – Craig PettyThis came as part of the super World Magic Shop deal when I bought Night Shade, and I’m so glad it was free. As they say, “I opened it half hour ago and I can do it already” I opened it saw how obvious it was marked and knew I’d never use it. This is bottom drawer material. Sorry Craig, I’m not sure who talked you into releasing this.

Chop – Craig PettySaw this demonstrated by Craig, and to be honest I think he was tired so I didn’t see it at its best. But it also came free with Night Shade and the concept of a paper coffee cup is good. There is some clever thought behind this. This too is a nice routine worth getting.

Modern Mentalism Vol 1&2 – Matt Mello This was recommend by the Wizard Product review, and I’ll update this when I’ve had chance to watch it.

Function 9 – Calen MorellThis too was recommend by the Wizard Product review, and I’ll update this when I’ve had chance to watch it.

Magic Smoke V2 – IllusionCraftA couple of years ago I gave IllusionCraft a stinker of a review as I’d gone to the stand 5 times to speak to Adam and was sent away as he was busy chatting to friends. However after waiting two years to talk to him it was worth the wait, he’s a great inventor and his props are fantastic. I was very impressed with the Magic Smoke at the convention, after playing with it now at home I’m even more impressed. Everything you need is in the box including spares. He even throws in rechargeable batteries and charger when other dealers would say batteries not included. I’m also very much eagerly awaiting a new item he’s working on which hopefully he’ll build in my suggestions. Although I don’t retract the old review, I do now understand why so many people do want to talk to him as he’s a really good guy. This is my favourite purchase of the convention.

2 comments:

Dave Bonsall here, just wanted to drop a quick note to say thank you all for your kind words regarding my Ring Flight Revolution! I feel extremely honoured that you've voted it the best buy of the convention. It really is very kind of you.